Catch your breath

Details

Library, Archive and Museum

Take a deep breath. How does it feel? What does it make you think? How many breaths have you taken today without even noticing?

2 April – 20 September 2019

Drawing on art, philosophy, anthropology, medical history and literature, this new exhibition combines research from the Life of Breath project with artist commissions and objects from the RCP collections and beyond, to show that breathing is so much more than a bodily function.

From a baby’s first cries to a dying gasp, breath is an ever-present companion on the journey through life. Breathing isn’t just a biological process; it enables us to communicate, to speak, to create music. It can have deep cultural and spiritual meaning. It can be a marker of both health and illness.

Catch your breath reflects on the ways people experience breath and breathlessness and how doctors have diagnosed and treated the diseases which cause the symptom. Working with artists, patients and doctors, we hope to raise awareness of breathlessness and to tackle the stigma that surrounds it.

This is a collaborative exhibition developed in partnership with Culture Durham, the Palace Green Library, the Life of Breath Project and University of Bristol. The Life of Breath project is supported by the Wellcome Trust.

@RCPmuseum #Catchyourbreath

'I find my breath gets short, but it seldom gets longer as a man gets older. I take it as it comes, and make the most of it. That's the best way, ain't it?'

Mr Omer in Charles Dickens, David Copperfield

Life of Breath

Exploring breathing and breathlessness at the interface between arts, humanities and medical practice